The Creative Thought Process - Part One | Event Experts One of the big parts of being an Event Designer is the creation of an event. By this I mean the ability to take what your client says to you and translate that into something amazing, dazzling, inspiring and ultimately something that represents what your client had in mind. I say that with tongue in cheek as most of our clients don’t actually know what they want and that is where you come in. So, as the designer how do you take your client’s mumblings and musings and turn them into a spectacular event. I have personally used two different software programs for this process and the first is Inspiration and the second is Mindjet. For the purposes of this exercise I have decided to use Mindjet as my brainstorming tool and given myself the task of coming up with a theme for the launch of a new perfume.
Thinking like a genius: overview Thinking and recall series Problem solving: creative solutions "Even if you're not a genius, you can use the same strategies as Aristotle and Einstein to harness the power of your creative mind and better manage your future." The following strategies encourage you to think productively, rather than reproductively, in order to arrive at solutions to problems. "These strategies are common to the thinking styles of creative geniuses in science, art, and industry throughout history." Nine approaches to creative problem solving: Rethink! Exercise #2 illustrates how famous thinkers used these approaches. Exercise #1: illustrates applications of the nine approaches. Text of exercise:Nine approaches to creative problem solving: Rethink! Thinking and recall series
thinking skills There is no logic in connecting an office copier with 'nose'. That is to say, there is no 'logic' in our normal undertanding of logic. This understanding is based on passive surface information systems. There is, however, the logic of active surface information systems, and that is the logic of a patterning system. In such a system, the putting together of 'copier' with the random input 'nose' is perfectly logical. At the same time, the juxtaposition is a logic of action. JUXTAPOSITIONAs many readers will know, the random juxtaposition is one of the many tools of lateral thinking. • What has smell to do with a copier? Smell is a sensation. • What could smell be used for? When copiers run out of paper or toner, there is usually a light signal - perhaps a red light. SMELL SIGNALWhat about a 'smell signal'? There could be different smells for different things. MOVEMENTThe above example illustrates the process of 'movement', which can be practised until a skill is built up in this operation.
Laddering From Mycoted Switching to and fro between different levels of abstraction to create ideas is often known as Laddering or the "Why Method." The sequence below is a ‘ladder’ of concepts in which the items lower down are all members or sub-sets of the ones higher up so that you move between the abstract and the concrete: Define the existing idea to start from: ‘This cup in my hand’. Ladder up: What wider categories could it is an example of? One possible distinction might be a technical vs. human one: reduce waste is technical; pay employees more and improve management are human.
Making Good Lessons Great: Incorporating Multiple Iintelligences and Creative Thinking into Everyday Lesson Plans « clearings by Betty K. Wood and Andrew L. Hunt, University of Arkansas at Little Rock Sarah C. Wood-Jenkins, Ball State University I didn’t find anything very revolutionary here except this quote which I shall bear in mind (lay-out is mine): ‘One model for teaching the skill of creative thinking involves: fluency flexibility originalityelaboration‘ “The following linear representation of a problem-solving thought process, developed by Puccio, Murdock, and Mance (2005), provides an excellent example of how characteristics and behaviors of Critical Thinking and Creative Thinking operate.” Source: Like this: Like Loading...
Receptivity to Ideas From Mycoted This technique suggests that you turn around your traditional way of approaching ideas offered from other people that may initially seem ‘half baked’ ‘off the wall’ or naïve. The method recommends that you be more receptive to such ideas as they could contain the seed of a ‘prize’ idea. This thought process is particularly relevant when responding to non-experts, whilst it is accepted that they do not understand the area they are talking about, similarly they are not indoctrinated by conventional wisdom about ‘what cant be done’. Paraphrasing Once the speaker has offered his thoughts, repeat them back to him using your own words, but keeping as close as possible to the essence of their idea, for instance you could say ‘If I understand this you are suggesting that…’ Do not evaluate or give an opinion on his thoughts, you are trying to establish a mutual starting point and understanding, evaluation comes at a later stage. Developmental Response
Creative thinking with creative geniuses like you! Category:Creativity Techniques This A to Z of Creativity and Innovation Techniques, provides an introduction to a range of tools and techniques for both idea generation (Creativity) and converting those ideas into reality (Innovation). Like most tools these techniques all have their good and bad points. I like to think of these creativity and innovation techniques as tools in a toolbox in much the same way as my toolbox at home for DIY. It has a saw, spanner, hammer, knife and all sorts of other things in it, they are all very useful, but you have to pick the right tool (creativity / Innovation technique) for each job. This site will try and provide a little guidance along with each tool to let you know whether it's best used for cutting paper or putting in nails. For the future, the aim is to also have sub-categories which will identify Techniques for; Problem Definition - including problem analysis, redifinition, and all aspects associated with defining the problem clearly. Subcategories
Mad Genius, Eccentric Behavior & Creative Process Kristi Tencarre : Mad Genius Eccentric Creative Beings By Kristi Tencarre What is madness, except for non-conformity to the norm? Majority makes up the norm, therefore their definition of madness becomes the marker signaling the labeled to watch out for and stay away from. Madness has been officially defined as mentally unstable. One characteristic of success in any creative endeavor is to not conform to the norms, mores and expectations of society. Eccentric is a positive term used to describe creative madness, which can also be called creative genius. To be creative one must have a smidgen of rebellion in the soul. What would people say if you quit your job to stay at home and get creative? So what if people label us as "mad" because we are pursuing our heart's desire. © 2006 Kristi Tencarre Kristi Tencarre is a long-time and valued contributor to Creativity Portal, sharing her creative perspective and photo writing prompts with its readers.
Keeping a Dream Diary From Mycoted To experience creative dreaming it is essential to come into better contact with your dreams. Psychologists have revealed that each of us dreams every night. However and unfortunately most of our dreams are forgotten. Thus, keeping a dream diary is helping in retaining the information longer. Before falling asleep, go over the following several times: ‘Tonight I dream; when I awake I will remember my dreams’ On awakening in the morning, lie quietly, do not open your eyes, and let you mind dwell on your initial thoughts. The Inspiration Paradox: Your Best Creative Time Is Not When You Think A bus company in China has launched a new “safe driving” campaign by suspending bowls of water over their drivers. To avoid getting wet, drivers must drive gently. In today’s technology-obsessed world, this solution is elegantly primitive. Not so. Numerous studies have demonstrated that our best performance on challenging, attention-demanding tasks - like studying in the midst of distraction - occurs at our peak time of day. In a study I conducted, for example, participants were given three related cue words (e.g., SHIP OUTER CRAWL), and were required to find their common link (SPACE). But distraction is not all bad, and Wieth and Zacks have demonstrated that we can use our increased susceptibility to distraction at off-peak times to our advantage. Insight problems, on the other hand, often initially mislead the solver. Insight problems involve thinking outside the box. Other studies show similar results.
Wishing From Mycoted The Wishing concept literally means imagining a target with thoughts along the lines… ‘I wish I could’… Such thought processes can be used in day to day situation, i.e. ‘I wish I could convince my manager my deadlines are unrealistic !’ Active wishing may start with a unusual/frivolous wish which is worth exploring to uncover its deeper routed message. Try to visualise something you aspire Question why/what will it do for you, letting the vision alter if need be Repeat this as often a you feel necessary until the true wish you desire is fully revealed Drive this clearer vision into the distance (‘zoom out’) Begin walking towards it You may now feel more able and better aware on how to get to that distant desire